Longest
country in the world, average of 3.7 people per household, 17th
biggest wine drinkers in the world, 67.8 Mobile Telephones per 100
population

Geography:

Chile's unusual,
ribbon-like shape —4,300 km long and on average 175 km
wide— has given it a
hugely varied climate, ranging from the world's driest desert - the
Atacama -
in the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the centre, to a
snow-prone
Alpine climate in the south, with glaciers, fjords and lakes. The
northern
Chilean desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper.
The
relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of
population and
agricultural resources. This area also is the cultural and political
center
from which Chile
expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern
and
southern regions. Southern Chile
is rich in forests
and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The
southern
coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas,
and
islands. The AndesMountains
are located on
the eastern border.

Government:

The politics of Chile takes place
in a
framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby
the President of Chile is both head of state and head of government,
and
of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the
government. Legislative Power is invested in both the government and
the two chambers of the National Congress. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and
the legislature.

Chile's
Constitution was canceled in a national
plebiscite in September 1980,
under the military government of
dictator Augusto Pinochet. It
entered into force in
March 1981.
After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite,
the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for
future amendments to the Constitution. In September 2005,
President Ricardo Lagos signed
into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These
include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators
for life,
granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief
of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to
four years.

In 2006, Michelle Bachelet from the
National Socialist Party became the first woman president with over 53%
in a
runoff, beating center-right billionaire businessman and former senator
Sebastian Pinera. She campaigned on a platform
of continuing Chile's
free market policies, while increasing social benefits to help reduce
the
country's gap between rich and poor, one of the largest in the world.
She was
inaugurated on March 11, 2006.

Michelle Bachelet, Chilean President

Brief history:

When the first Spanish settlers arrived in the sixteenth century three main
tribes controlled Chile. Quechua tribes occupied the northern region and
Araucanian tribes occupied the central and northern part of the southern region.
The Incas occupied northern and parts of central Chile. The first Spanish
settlements were, Santiago in 1541 and Concepcion in 1550 mainly because of the
pleasant climate and fertile soil. Repeated assaults from the Araucanians lasted
into the second half of the nineteenth century.

By the mid-seventeenth century, the population
of the Spanish settlements and their surroundings numbered approximately
100,000. This population grew to about 500,000 by mid-eighteenth century and to
one million by 1830. Those with European blood were concentrated in central
Chile, between Santiago and Concepcion; few settled in the northern and southern
regions. This pattern of dispersion began to change only in the second half of
the nineteenth century, with the rapid growth of mining activities and the
immigration of non-Iberaian Europeans.

Under Spanish colonial rule, northern and
central Chile were part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. The south remained under the
control of the Araucanians almost until the nineteenth century. Independence was
first declared in 1810. At that time, central Chile was to a large extend
controlled by a small, upper class of Creoles (locally born Europeans), most of
them owned large estates. A period of internal instability and strife followed,
which resulted in the restoration of Spanish rule in 1814. Combined Argentinean
and Chilean forces under Jose de San Martin and Bernardo O'Higgins, who crossed
the Andes from Argentina, managed to defeat and drive out the Spanish army and
restore Chile's independence (1818). O'Higgins became Chile's first
president.

Chile defeated Bolivia and Peru in a war
(1879-1883) for the control of the Atacama Desert and its rich mineral deposits.
In the course of this war, Chilean troops occupied Lima. Chile won the disputed
territory. Bolivia lost its outlet to the open sea and Peru the Tarapaca
district.

A multiparty, parliamentary regime came into
being in 1891, however, the interests of the upper class, comprised mainly of
owners of large states and wealthy business people, continued to predominate.
After a short period of military rule (1924-1925), followed by the reinstatement
of the democratically elected president Arturo Alessandri, a new, more
progressive, constitution came in force (1925). Left-wing parties, including
communist, gained much influence from 1930s onward and played an important role
in elections of several presidents. However, the right-wing parties remained in
actual control.

A presidential candidate of the left-wing
parties, Salvador Allende, won the elections in 1970. Upon assuming office, he
nationalized the mines, industries, and public services. Allende was deposed and
died in a military coup in September 1973, which was followed by 16 years of
military dictatorship by General Augusto Pinochet. Democratic elections were
held in 1989. Democracy was restored in 1990 with the assumption of the
presidency by Patricio Alwin Azocar, following free elections.